UK amongst countries making the most contactless purchases

A new report from Visa Europe has shown that contactless usage in Europe has tripled over the past year, with the UK one of the countries making the most contactless purchases.

Across Europe, 3 billion contactless purchases were made on Visa cards over the past 12 months. Consumers in Poland, Spain and the UK were the most likely to use contactless technology to make payments.

Across the continent, consumers used their contactless cards 360 million times in April 2016 alone, a rise of 217 million from the previous year’s figures.

Contactless usage in the UK has grown by 300% in just one year, with 51 million transactions carried out in April 2015, compared to 153 million transactions in April 2016.

UK shops that saw the highest rates of contactless use were primarily supermarkets, with Tesco, the Co-Operative and Marks and Spencer taking many contactless transactions.

Visa stated that food outlets and restaurants had seen a boost in the number of contactless purchases made, with fast food chain McDonald’s named as a company receiving high levels of contactless transactions.

Tristan Kirchner, executive director of product management at Visa Europe, said: “The last 12 months has seen contactless payments continue its extraordinary growth as this quick and convenient form of payment reaches more consumers and merchants throughout Europe.”

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